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There are a wide variety of resources which parents could employ to help dyslexic children at home. Some of these include:

Books.

Our list of suggested titles includes a section for parents; information on related specific learning difficulties which frequently co-occur with dyslexia; difficulties with maths (dyscalculia); study skills for techniques to improve learning and writing. There are also recommended titles to read to young children to explain dyslexia, to view a list of suggested titles please see our Additional Resouces page.

Phonics.

Learning to discriminate the individual sounds which make up language and to recognise the individual letters and blends of letters which relate to these sounds is an essential first step in learning to read.
Teach Your Monster to Read: a series of free, fun games to practise the first stages of reading.
Focus on Phonics:
Pure Sounds:
Phonicshark Software: KS1. Parents can purchase this software at a discount at participating schools.
Dandelion Launchers: phonics reading series for beginner readers.
Phonics4free:

Video Clips.

Dys Talk is a series of short videos featuring talks on various topics by leading experts. (Return to top)

Literacy Programmes.

There are a number of programmes specifically developed to help the dyslexic learner with reading and spelling.
DIY Readers’ Support Pack For Parents; – sound to letter links and early sound blending.
Beat Dyslexia: a recently updated multisensory dyslexia programme.
Toe by Toe: – a reading scheme for all ages.
Lifeboat Read and Spell.
Alpha to Omega: – reading and spelling.

Writing.

Write-on-line Home User: a writing tool suitable for children aged 9+.
Touch Typing.
For children struggling with handwriting, learning to touch type and using a computer for homework and school work can be the way forward:
Touch Type, Read and Spell.
Touch Typing software tutors.

Numeracy.

‘Prepare your child for success with maths’, by Sarah Wedderburn.
An e-book full of fun and everyday ideas for parents and carers to help children develop maths as a life-skill. Available from Amazon in a Kindle edition.
Numbershark software. Using games to reinforce learning.

Mindmapping.

Mindmapping is a way of organising information in a graphic, pictorial way which can be effective for the dyslexic learner’s more visual style of processing information.
A useful technique for structuring written work and exams answers.
Kidspiration (for younger children), and Inspirations (for older children).
A visual way to explore and understand words, numbers and concepts.

Memory.

Difficulties with short term and working memory are a common feature of dyslexia. Games such as Lucid Research’s Memory Booster and Nintendo’s Brain Booster may be helpful.

Games.

There are numerous games available to support reading, spelling and memory. These include:
Trugs: Teach Reading Using Games.
SWAP: Reading.
Stile Dyslexia
Magnetic Reading Arc and other alphabet resources.